The present invention is a continuation in part of U.S. Pat. No. 8,154,440 and related applications as described above, the contents of each are incorporated by reference in its entirety. The '440 patent describes a mobile software system for a variety of operations before, during, and after a disaster. The '440 patent further disclosed systems that provided a mechanism which can be used in a variety of emergency management operations. One area not addressed was the need for rapid, massive registration and badge identification of large numbers of personnel, especially following a disaster. Responders, residents, and business owners, plus their employees, all need access to restricted areas. The National Response Framework even mandates such badging, yet no viable, fast, simple, inexpensive, and high capacity system is available. Up until now, plastic badges or temporary paper badges have been the norm. The cost of badge supplies, printers, labor, on site power, and wasted time preparing such items in the chaotic times following a disaster are replaced and/or augmented by the present systems, methods, and device. With this new “virtual” badging system described herein, having web based registration from areas remote from the restricted area, the present invention provides more rapid and efficient, mass implementation of identification mechanisms.
The electronic identification system includes a virtual badge on a mobile device as well as an additional method of using a separate, synched, cost effective, electronic display device. The present invention is adapted to be used in normal, day-to-day operations. The system therefore, is designed to be easily implemented so that users will be familiar with the system, thereby eliminating the requirement of responders and citizens attempting to learn a new system in the chaos immediately following a disaster. This guidance of focusing on Whole Community response programs to integrate such systems into normal day to day use follows protocols of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The present invention is further adapted to be usable in a 100% disconnected environment when all internet and cell infrastructure is not functioning.
The present invention further describes a system of workflow management designed to be used to badge and then to monitor and track mobile workers. By providing administrators with the ability to send alerts and tasks to their badge users, as well as allowing users to send notes, forms, and events to each other, the virtual badge system in accordance with the present invention can be used to efficiently manage personnel. While the present invention finds use in the disaster arena, other non-emergency applications are contemplated and described herein. The present invention includes a cellular phone or a linked device equipped with mobile software, a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, GPS functions, and BLUETOOTH® (or other evolving technologies like Near Field Communications, herein referenced as NFC), comprising a system designed to also work when cellular towers are damaged or destroyed.
The '440 patent was first designed for use with feature phones, known by some now as “dumb phones.” The recent developments in mobile technology have resulted in touchpad based and GPS capable cell phone computers known as “smart phones” and “tablets”, which have advanced computing abilities. These devices allow for much simpler software application integration with the device hardware which constantly is being updated with new inventions, such as the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips, the Near Field Communication (NFC) chip, the GPS receiver, or the BLUETOOTH® chip. These upgrades to mobile devices allow for much easier customization of software applications to be cross-platform and be compatible with a multitude of devices from a multitude of cellular carriers. The present invention is adapted to merge the dumb phones with smart phones into a system designed to not only work on both types of phones, but also allowing for computers and smart phones to map and track mixed teams of dumb and/or smart phone users. Accordingly, this virtual badge system is designed to work regardless of the condition of the local power, cell, and Internet infrastructure—a needed requirement in the disaster field.